Teacher’s Guide for

My Chair By Betsy James

Illustrated By Mary Newell DePalma

 

 

 

Pre-reading Activity:

Talk about chairs. How important are they? What are they for? How long do you think they have been around? What are they made out of?

Draw, paint or sculpt a picture of your favorite chair. Share as a group before reading the story.

 

 

Discussion Questions:

 

  1. What is your favorite chair? Why do you like it so much?
  2. What types of games can you play with only a chair?
  3. What is important about chairs?
  4. Who do you think has the best imagination in the story? Why?
  5. What does the author mean when she says, “In my chair I consider what’s fair?” Do you ever have to consider that too?
  6. Which illustration is your favorite? Why?
  7. How can a chair eat quarters, trucks and colored pencils?
  8. Why is it important that “underneath my chair is where grown-ups aren’t” When might you like to go under a chair?
  9. What could a chair be besides a chair
  10.  How is your favorite chair like others? How is it different?

 

Projects:

 

Art: Using materials found around the house and no bigger than a paper plate create a chair. Then, using the same materials reshape it into one of these other images from the book:

 


 

intergalactic zoo

horse

train

glasses

roller skater

dancing bear

forest

flower

fort

ship

plane

prison

truck

gate

cage

ocean

cave

treasure


 

 

 

 

 

Music:

 

Sing this song:

 

to “Shortening Bread”

 

Everybody has a chair

Everybody has a chair

Everybody has a chair on the floor

Not on the ceiling (point)

Not on the door (point)

Everybody has a chair on the floor

 

See if you can make up another song about chairs (or your chair) to one of these familiar tunes:

 

Frere Jacques

Mulberry Bush

I’m a Little Teapot

 

 

Movement:

Play musical chairs but instead of using identical chairs (boring!) use your imagination and discover what different objects could be used as a chair. (Ex: pillow, rock, block, box, stuffed animal, or even a picture with a chair on it!) After the game discuss which chairs were the best and why.

 

 

Math:

 

Brainstorm the qualities you could graph in a chair (color, size, use, etc.) and then have students choose three qualities to graph all the chairs in their own home that evening.

 

Science:

 

Look at the book:

 

1000 Chairs Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell, Simone Philippi

and then these guidelines to good seating:

http://www.betterseating.org/lookfor.html

 

Then design a quality chair for yourself or someone in your family. You can draw it on paper or build it from sculpey or other material.

 

 

Language Arts:

 

Write a book inspired by My Chair about your room, bed or favorite spot.

 

Related Title:

 

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams

 

 


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